For Your Future
by TheSilverHunt3r
Summary: Ex-Military Doctor Ougai Mori adopted Dazai, a six year old runaway. Parenting was harder than Mori expected. Dad!Mori, oneshot.


Summary: Ex-Military Doctor Ougai Mori adopted Dazai, a six year old runaway. Parenting was harder than Mori expected. Dad!Mori, oneshot.

Age 5

Mori smiled and looked to his right. It was not a kind smile, but a mix of amusement and sternness. "What are you doing?"

The aforementioned child froze. He had his hand in Mori's coat pocket. The look on his face was similary to the sheepish grin any child had when being caught stealing from a cookie jar.

Mori grasped the child's wrist, extricating the small hand from his pocket.

The child's sleeve fell down, exposing a purple bruise.

Mori's smile hardened further. His purple eyes no longer contained a shred of humor. "Who did this?"

XXX

Age 6

The fire escape creaked. It was a rusty thing. The fire escape seemed barely able to stay attached to the side of the apartment building even without someone on it.

Mori had chosen his apartment because of this double edged sword. It cut off a possible exit, but it made him aware of any assassin trying to sneak through his window.

His paranoia hadn't been helped by leaving the military and becoming a criminal. He shot to his feet, curling his fingers around a scapel. He's in his small living room and ready to fight just as the fog clears from his sleepy brain. He saw a small figure halfway through his window, the outline of a backpack already in his floor. Mori slid the scapel up his sleeve and hit the light switch.

The small figure froze. It was the kid Mori had helped a few months ago.

"You ran away from the orphanage?" Mori asked, bluntly pointing out the elephant in the room.

A swift nod is the only reply Mori needed.

Mori sighed. "I'm going to the kitchen. You want some hot chocolate?" He knew from before the kid loved everything chocolate.

The kid's eyes brightened up at the two magic words.

XXX

Age 7

"Do you have anything to clean them with?" Mori questioned. He had to keep completely calm-his client was freaking out enough for both of them. "Yes, hydrogen peroxide would be good. Pour some over the tweezers and your wounds." Mori shifted as a small body climbed onto him, perching on his leg. He held the phone against his shoulder to keep his client from hearing their conversation.

Dazai had put on weight, no longer a twig, but still thin. He was warm, pouring off heat. He whined, "Mori-san, I don't feel good. I think I'm dying!"

"Dazai-kun, you just have a fever," Mori corrected after putting a hand in the child's forehead. He put the phone back to his ear. "My apologies, I didn't catch that. Ah, yes, now be careful and try to pick the shrapnel out. It will hurt," he warned. He put the phone back against his shoulder, raising an eyebrow at his ward. "Are you going to be logical about this?"

"I was poisoned," Dazai dramatically groaned. He was way too hot and his throat and lungs hurt. He flopped against Mori's chest, where it was colder.

Mori shot Dazai an exasperated look. "You were not poisoned, Dazai-kun. Just wait a moment and I'll grab you some medicine."

Dazai grumbled something in response. He smooshed his face against Mori's coat and settled down to wait.

XXX

Age 9

Dazai couldn't sleep. He got out of bed. He crept through the dark hallways, jumping at every creak. He peeked into the living room where a single lamp was on.

Mori was on the phone again, dark bags under his eyes. He ran a hand through his hair in agitation, but didn't let any of the emotion deep into his voice.

Dazai waited until his guardian was done talking. "Carry me?" He requested.

Mori sighed, but complied. He pulled Dazai up, resting the child on his hip. "Couldn't sleep again?"

Dazai wrapped his legs around Mori's waist. "Nightmare," he admitted.

Mori tousled the boy's hair and hugged him against his side. As was their custom, Mori started walking around the house. They turned on the lights to check for monsters and turned them off.

The man was glad to put Dazai down and tuck the boy in. Dazai was starting to be too big to be carried-Mori would definitely be feeling the pain in his back tomorrow.

XXX

Age 12

Mori had been absorbed in his work for the past few hours and it was late. Of course, he still had more to do, but he was taking a break. He stopped-his hand halfway to his cup of coffee.

It was too quiet.

It had been too quiet tonight, but Mori hadn't noticed. He got up and went to Dazai's room; the boy was not in bed. "Dazai-kun?" He called out.

There was no answer.

Mori knocked on the bathroom door. "Dazai-kun?" There was not answer. He frowned and quickly returned with his set of lock picks.

He pushed the door open. He cursed as he saw the blood pooling on the floor, trailing down Dazai's wrist. He turned his head as he saw another hint of red in his periphery. It was a razor-the blade was coated in red.

Dazai was bleeding out in the bathroom. And from the looks of it, it was intentional. Dazai had attempted to commit suicide.

Mori closed his eyes for a moment, regaining his control. He breathed in through his nose, plastering neutrality onto his face, more out of habit than anything else.

If Dazai was awake, he would spot the emotion in his guardian's eyes. But he was not, he was bleeding out into the tiles.

Mori pulled off his shirt. He tore the sleeves off, wrapping them around the wound on Dazai's wrist. He tied a knot to keep a light pressure on the wound.

He couldn't take Dazai to a hospital-the boy was still considered a runaway.

Mori sprinted out of the room to grab his bag of medical supplies. He came back and wrapped Dazai's wound up properly. He took off the boys's bloodied shirt and put Dazai on the couch.

This would only be the first of many attempts and many close calls.

XXX

Age 14

Mori had a plan to kill the Port Mafia Boss. He didn't tell Dazai, but the kid figured it out after Mori dropped a few hints.

Dazai didn't like anyone in the Port Mafia. His job during meetings was to flank Mori and stay quiet. After, Mori questioned him about the person and their agenda. The only exceptions to this rule of equal apathy were Hirotsu, who slipped Dazai candy, and Kouyou, a sub-executive who employed Mori to care for her hurt subordinates.

The Boss was also an exception for Dazai, but in the other direction. Dazai actively hated him. The Boss was illogical and vindictive.

Dazai sometimes had to wait on the Boss. The old man seemed to take delight in tugging him around roughly and making the job harder for Dazai. Dazai had often come away with bruised wrists and pride-a fact he had tried to keep hidden from his guardian, but he didn't think he was very successful.

XXX

Age 15

Mori shined a light into the unconcious child's eye. They were unusual eyes-the pupils were white, one was star shaped and the other was a circle.

Mori, Boss of the Port Mafia though he was, was perfoming a check up on the child Dazai had brought in. Apparently, this child had been tormenting people in a neighborhood with an ability.

"What type of ability do you think he has?" Mori asked. He moved onto checking the inside of the child's mouth, all was healthy there too.

Dazai plopped himself on the infirmary beside the boy, his long legs dangled over the edge. He hummed, thinking back to the encounter he had just had. "Mind control, the condition seems to be that the person has to cause him physical pain for him to curse them."

Mori started to unwind the sharp barb wire someone had put around the child's wrists. "Then he will have to stay with us," he simply said.

XXX

Age 16

Chuuya and Dazai bickered for a while. Insults about height, bandages, and intelligence were exchanged between them.

Mori ignored them-that was normal.

Silence fell in the office as the two teenagers settled in to do paperwork; more so, Dazai briefly gave up on teasing Chuuya.

Dazai quickly got bored. His thoughts wandered-he kept his thumb on the paragraph where he had stopped reading. His thoughts wandered back to Chuuya and his first mission, the one about the former Boss and Arahabaki. He abruptly looked at Chuuya and asked, a tinge of curiosity in his voice, "Do you know if you're even human, really? Even with what Rimbaud said, I mean."

Chuuya's features contorted in rage and fear. "Dazai," he growled. He didn't know.

But that didn't matter, did it?

Dazai had crossed a line.

Mori's eyes rose from the paper in his hands. He quickly surveyed the scene in front of him. "Dazai-kun, apologize," he sharply ordered.

"But, Mori-san-"

Mori cut the teenager off, "You're grounded. Now, apologize." His eyes bored into his apprentice, peeling back Dazai's layers of masks with ease and a dark, displeased look.

Dazai caved under Mori's stare, looking away from him.

XXX

Age 18

"What should we do?" Dazai asked. He had his hand around Q's wrist.

Q stood beside Dazai, trying to tug away. The child's eyes blazed with falsely righteous indignation. How dare they interrupt his fun? He was completely unrepentant about his recent actions, even though they had cost the Port Mafia many lives and far too much time.

Mori studied the child, eyes cold. He massaged his forehead with the back of his palm. He had no choice anymore. "We will take him to the basement."

Q seemed to shrink at the order, eyes widening.

The group of three climbed down the levels of Port Mafia's headquarters. They had decided to use the stairs to avoid large groups of people. It was better to limit the amount of people Q could affect if he broke away.

The walls from ground level up were a pure white. The further they decided into the lower levels, the darker the shade of the walls were. The paint started to crack and peel, yellowed from age. Faded brown stains appeared along with small holes and scratches in the plaster.

The lowest level was where Mori pulled out a ring of keys. He led them inside.

The holding cells were a depressing place, where mold grew in every corner and footsteps seemed to echo no matter how quietly one walked. The steel of the doors was rusty and covered in grime. This was where the Port Mafia put it's prisoners.

And this was where Mori had to put Q.

Dazai's eyes were dead. He had no sympathy for Q, nor any question about Mori's orders. He shoved the pushed inside and locked the door with Mori's key.

Mori watched the two children he had taken in. He heard the banging and screams of a frantic child being to realize just what he had done. Mori closed his eyes, taking a shallow breath of musty to center himself. He was far too affected by this. He opened his eyes again and studied Dazai. He didn't like what he saw-he frowned.

XXX

Age 21

Mori sat in the chair. His house was empty, devoid of life, similiar to how it was years before. But there were changes, signs of others having been there.

In his cabinet was an expensive tea set, a gift. Kouyou was around still, a trusted friend and executive of Mori's. She was thinking of taking in another apprentice since Chuuya didn't need help anymore.

There was a large chest of toys, everything from balls to yoyos to stuffed animals. Q was still locked away.

Chuuya was also still around, a feared Port Mafia Executive with several years of experience under his belt. Peeking out from under a couch cushion was a green knitted scarf he left behind years ago. Mori always forgot about returning it. In Dazai's bedroom there was also a small left handed glove-it was worn and the fake black leather was peeling off.

Dazai was gone. He had the most things; but it was a somewhat unfair comparison because he had lived in the house for a decade. He left a collection of video games: scratched disks, dusty cartridges, and cracked handheld game device screens. His books had snuck into Mori's bookshelf in the living, easily differentiated whether they had dog earred pages and bookmarks to mark places. Dazai also never underlined things in his books with highlighters or pens, he actually hated people who did that, but he would underline sections lightly in pencil.

Mori noticed those things every time he walked around his house. He remembered those things, the few happy memories he had of the days when Dazai and Chuuya were still growing up.

XXX

Age 23

Dazai stared at the black trenchcoat, Mori's coat. He rubbed his fingers over the material, it was the same silky type as before. The coat was identical to the one he had burned, with the exception of being slightly thinner, more of a coat meant for spring or fall. "Why did you push me out of the Port Mafia before? You don't fear death."

"All men fear death, Dazai-kun," Mori quoted.

"I disagree," Dazai flippantly replied. "But philosophy aside, my point was the possibility of me killing you wasn't why you did it."

"No, it wasn't," Mori softly confessed.

Fury darkened Dazai's gaze. He kept his eyes downcast. He asked, "Then why?"

"For your future, for the future of the Port Mafia, and the future of Yokohama."

Dazai finally met Mori's eyes. His grip on the coat tightened. "How? Why? You want me back, you chose me out of all of the other Agency members after going through all the trouble of pushing me out the first time?" He couldn't understand Mori's clues and reasoning, not really.

"You're different now. You're a bit better," Mori laconically stated.

Dazai gained a dark look, twisting his lips into a scowl. "And why does that matter?" He sounded petulant.

"Why did I push you out of the Port Mafia?" Mori's question was given in an almost sarcastic, rhetorical mannner.

Dazai stared at his mentor incredulously. "You wanted me to leave so that I would change?"

Mori nodded slightly. "Yes. As I said, it's for your future. You couldn't continue like you had."

Dazai's reply was filled with spite, he wanted to see Mori's plan fail. "And what makes you sure I won't just revert back?"

Mori smiled, an expression that almost semed to say, 'I'm glad you asked'. "It's because of them, all of them, your former coworkers at the Agency, Chuuya, Kouyou, Akutagawa, and. . . Oda," he listed off.

Dazai looked long and hard at Mori, thinking over what his mentor said.

Dazai put on the coat.

Mori was right.

Dazai had changed. It was heavy, but it wasn't cold like before. He didn't hunch over like he did five years ago, instead he stood straight backed with his chin held high. He had a smile on his face that was more genuine than before, his eyes were no longer dead.

Mori smiled. His eyes held a mix of sympathy and pride. "Welcome back to the Port Mafia, Dazai-kun."


End file.
